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Saturday, December 1, 2012

There is the playing and the protected area ! ~
the other day somebody asked, as to whether results in Cricket are predictable
? By empirical data, people used to
speak of how the ground would assist batting, bowling ~ specifically whether
spinners or pacers and more…

For long there were theories that Chepauk would
assist spinners and sure there would be a result. The famous Indian spinners would be virtually
unplayable in the 4th innings. On the same wicket, Andy Roberts
bowled a magic spell. Remember the
bespectacled Narendra Hirwani and his debut in Jan 1988 at Chepuak ~ another
Pongal special. India won an
important toss and made 382. Hirwani took three of the five West Indian wickets
to fall on the second day. On the third morning, Hirwani clean-bowled Vivian
Richards with a googly went on to finish at 8 for 61; in the Second against a huge target
of 416, Vivian Richard’s WI were dismissed in 40 overs. Hirwani was the wrecker-in-chief again with 8
for 75 and overall match figures of 16 for 136. Sadly, Chepuak was to become a batsmen’s
paradise with hundreds and doubles flowing later……..

The Third Test between the bruised Indians and visiting
England would take place from 5th of this month at Eden Gardens ~
the premier ground at Kolkatta; the venue has hosted,many Test matches and One
day Internationals but has come under a cloud now for different reasons. The iconic Cricket stadium touted to be the
largest in India
in terms of capacity, underwent renovation prior to 2011 ODI World Cup. The Cricket Association of Bengal retained
the team of Burt Hill and VMS to renovate the Eden Garden Cricket Stadium. The
renovated stadium includes a new clubhouse and players' facilities, upgrading
the exterior wall to give the stadium a new look, cladding the existing roof
structure with a new metal skin, new/upgraded patron amenities and signage, and
general infrastructure improvements.

Heard of Curator ? – a curator (from Latin:
curare meaning "take care") is a manager or overseer. Have heard more
of him taking care of Library, Museums etc.,
In Cricket, he is an important person taking care of the playing area,
or rather preparing the pitch. In the game, the protected area or
danger area is the central portion of the pitch—a rectangle running down the
middle of the pitch, two feet wide, and beginning five feet from each popping
crease. Under the Laws of Cricket, a bowler must avoid running on this area
during his follow-through after delivering the ball. The protected area is protected in this way
because the ball normally bounces on the pitch within this region, and if it
damaged by the bowler's footmarks it can give an unfair advantage to the
bowling side. Law 10 of the Laws of
Cricket sets out rules covering the preparation and maintenance of the playing
area.

Pitches in different parts of the world have different
characteristics. The nature of the pitch plays a very important role in the
actual game, it may even influence the selection of team. Pitches in Australia have traditionally been
known to be assist fast bowlers. In particular, the pitch at the WACA Ground in
Perth is
regarded as being possibly the quickest pitch in the world. Down under too, Melbourne and Sydney are known
to assist spinners offering purchase. Green,
swing promoting and humid conditions sums up the construction of English
pitches. Indian pitches and attitudes have changed considerably in the past few
years. Mohali and Nagpur
have assisted pace bowling as some visitors like Dale Steyn exploited the
conditions ruthlessly.

At Mumbai,
India had the
spinning track, 3 spinners, Captain winning the toss; yet lost the match
poorly. So, the cricket pitch which is
the central strip of the cricket field of 22 yards continues to draw attraction; some
stinging criticism too…

The controversy surrounding the preparation of
the Eden pitch took a turn on Saturday as
veteran curator Prabir Mukherjee proceeded on a medical leave and termed the
Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) decision to sideline him for the third Test
between India and England as an
“insult.” Reports suggest that Mr.
Mukhejee, who has been preparing the pitch of the stadium since 1985, shot a
letter to the CAB on Saturday morning and sought a “medical leave”. He also
hinted that he may not re-join at all. The development came less than 48 hours
after the BCCI sent East Zone ground and pitch committee representative Ashish
Bhowmick to prepare a customised wicket at the Eden.

This comes amidst reports that the Indian Captain Mahendra
singh Dhoni demanded another rank turner
for the Kolkata Test; the curator reportedly had stated that such a demand was
not logical as two pitches cannot be the same. That had apparently prompted the
BCCI to send Mr. Bhowmick to oversee the preparations. During England’s last appearance in Kolkata for an ODI
in 2011, Dhoni had termed the Eden wicket as
“ugly”, though India
went on to win that match.

Away from EdenGardens, there is more news at Greenpark, Kanpur as there reports
that an electrician is the pitch curator. Newspaper reports suggest that an electrician is doubling up as pitch curator
at the lone international cricket stadium here. Shiv Kumar, who is an electrician with the UP
Sports Department, is helped by a tubewell operator in maintaining the pitch
and officials are baffled as to what the fuss is all about. Officials are quoted as saying that this was
nothing to talk about; GreenPark stadium belongs to
the UP Sports Department and they are free to appoint anyone for this
responsibility.